By Tony Fairbairn
- Novak Djokovic [4] v Taylor Fritz [7]
- Jannik Sinner [1] v Tomas Machac [30]
SHANGHAI, CHINA – Novak Djokovic and Taylor Fritz face off in the semi-finals of Shanghai with the winner taking a step closer towards ATP Finals qualification.
 |
|---|
Novak Djokovic [4] v Taylor Fritz [7] | H2H: Djokovic leads 9-0
After winning the Olympics, Novak Djokovic has had the weight of the world lifted off his shoulders as he seeks a 100th career title in Shanghai. The Serb has had a tricky week but after overcoming Jakub Mensik, Djokovic now looks to take one step closer towards the ATP Finals by progressing to his third final this season. Another player who has the ATP Finals on his mind is Taylor Fritz as the US Open finalist is into the last four in Shanghai after defeating David Goffin in the Quarter-Finals.
H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Novak Djokovic [4] v Taylor Fritz [7] | H2H: Djokovic leads 9-0 |
| ATP Shanghai 2024 | Shanghai, China |
| Hard (O) | Prize Money: $325,000 |
| Third on Stadium Court (Not before 12:00 BST) | Sky/Now TV <- Subscription Required |
After claiming gold in Paris, Djokovic now has complete freedom as he has nothing to lose and everything to gain.
However more motivation awaits Djokovic with a place at the ATP Finals and a 100th career title on the line in Shanghai this week.
The next obstacle for Djokovic is Fritz after the US Open finalist has continued the momentum with the American looking to end the season strong.
Fritz now has the opportunity to win a second Masters 1000 title of his career and take one step closer towards the season-ending finale in Turin.
After his tough quarter-final win Djokovic praised Mensik, suggesting that the Czech Republican has one of the best serves in the game.
“I haven’t trained with him for a year and a half, so I could see today why he is one of the best servers we have in the game,” Djokovic explained to the ATP website.
“He is only 19, the future is very bright for him. He knows that I am always there for him, whatever he needs. Jakub is somebody that I have been following for the last three or four years, ever since he played the finals of junior Australian Open.
“We like playing each other, we raise the level when we face each other. We’ve played a lot of practice sets and it’s always fun.”
Meanwhile Fritz spoke about being ‘locked in’ at the latter stages of big tournaments as well as his aggressive second serves.
“I feel like sometimes it takes a couple of matches to find my routines, to find what feels good and what is working for me,” Fritz told the ATP website.
“I feel like once I get past the first two rounds, I feel very locked in. I’ve come this far already, so I might as well really dial it in and I’m just enjoying being here.
“I knew I had to. I knew serves that might work well against somebody else might not necessarily work against Goffin. The one thing I remembered about playing him is that he’s an incredible returner, and serves I’m not used to seeing come back, they come back. So I really had to be on it with my serve and extra aggressive with second serves.”
Djokovic will aim to serve aggressively and continue to return with authority as he will move Fritz around the court in order to expose space on the court to hit winners into.
Meanwhile Fritz will continue to maintain his aggression on the second serves as he looks to take time away from Djokovic and pin the Serb behind the baseline.
Although this is a very different Fritz, Djokovic should secure a tenth consecutive win over the American if the Serb plays anywhere near his best level.
Prediction: Djokovic in three sets.
 |
|---|
Jannik Sinner [1] v Tomas Machac [30] | H2H: Sinner leads 1-0
World number one Jannik Sinner is showing no signs of slowing down as the Italian thrashed a fatigued Daniil Medvedev with ease. Now with Carlos Alcaraz out of Shanghai, Sinner has now secured the end of year world number one ranking and will aim to celebrate that achievement by winning a seventh title of the season. The reason why Alcaraz is out is because of Tomas Machac with the Czech Republican reaching his first Masters 1000 semi-final of his career in another breakthrough achievement for the 30th seed.
H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Jannik Sinner [1] v Tomas Machac [30] | H2H: Sinner leads 1-0 |
| ATP Shanghai 2024 | Shanghai, China |
| Hard (O) | Prize Money: $325,000 |
| Second on Stadium Court (Not before 09:30 BST) | Sky/Now TV <- Subscription Required |
It’s been an incredible season for Sinner which has got even better as he is confirmed to be world number one at the end of the season.
Now the Italian will continue his surge as the dominant force in tennis as he searches for a seventh final this season.
Standing in Sinner’s way is Machac who’s incredible season continues, defeating Alcaraz to reach a first Masters 1000 semi-final.
Machac will hope his incredible week continues as he continues to get better with each week in his bid to be a seed at January’s Australian Open.
Speaking after reaching a tenth quarter-final at Masters 1000 level, Sinner spoke about how his career is matching up to expectations.
“It’s better [than my career expectations],” Sinner told the ATP website.
“You cannot plan when you are young. You never know what is going to happen in your career. You just try to improve daily. Obviously I’m very happy to be in this position. Being in the semi-finals of a Masters is always a big step forward.
“It’s a huge accomplishment from my side, but we try to keep going, we try to improve and see what I can do. But talking about today, it was a great match, and I’m looking forward to the semis.”
Meanwhile Machac spoke about the keys to victory against Alcaraz as he looked for revenge from his Davis Cup loss to the Spaniard.
“I know that against Alcaraz I have to play this level to have a chance to win, so I just tried to slow the ball [a little bit]… I managed to make it until the end, so I’m really happy with that,” Machac stated to the ATP website.
“I was looking for the revenge, for sure. I tried to learn from the match against him at the Davis Cup, I was playing [at a] great level also there, but I just tried to do something different, and it happened, and I’m really happy with that.
“What I did? I was just trying to play this level, and take a little bit more time and try to not think about anything. And the body was playing on my behalf, so I just tried to be in the zone as long as possible.”
Sinner will continue to dominate on serve, dictating on the forehand side as he will test the stamina and patience of Machac.
Meanwhile Machac will mix up the pace of the rallies as he looks to force careless errors from Sinner’s game.
This will be Sinner’s toughest test of the week but the Italian should have enough quality and confidence to edge to victory.
Prediction: Sinner in three sets.
How to Watch/Follow ATP Shanghai 2024
| Live Stream | Sky/Now TV <- Subscription Required
TennisTV <- Subscription Required |
| Live Scores | Tennis Scores Powered By TNNSLIVE |
| Follow Britwatch - Sport in General, Brits in Particular! | |
|---|---|
| Soundcloud | |
| YouTube | |
| We may receive compensation for products purchased via affiliate links on this website | |